cannabisnews.com: Medical Marijuana Deserves Try! 





Medical Marijuana Deserves Try! 
Posted by FoM on March 22, 1999 at 05:35:33 PT
From the Journal Sentinel 
Striking a blow for common sense and effective medical care, a private scientific institute has recommended that marijuana cigarettes be made available to help seriously ill patients whose misery might be relieved by smoking the now-outlawed substance. 
The recommendation flies in the face, and helps expose the folly, of the federal government's hard-as-granite position on marijuana. Federal law still outlaws its use, and last fall Congress adopted a resolution condemning marijuana's use, even under medical supervision. Yet a mountain of anecdotal evidence, plus an explosion of new scientific research, show that the active ingredient in marijuana appears to be useful for treating pain and other symptoms associated with cancer and AIDS in some patients, reported the Institute of Medicine, an arm of the prestigious National Academy of Sciences. Further demolishing any justification for the government's across-the-board ban, the institute study, issued last Wednesday, said there was no evidence that making marijuana available to sick patients would increase its recreational use, or that marijuana introduced users to more dangerous narcotics such as heroin. It should be emphasized that the institute recommended nothing that would encourage young people or others to smoke pot. On the contrary, the institute urged that marijuana be used only under medical supervision; for only a short time; only by patients suffering from a few specific maladies, and only when other treatments have failed. Moreover, it warned would-be users that the smoke in marijuana cigarettes is dangerous, and for this reason it urged the development of new ways to administer the drug, such as inhalers. Very often, doctors prescribe medicines that are lethal when used carelessly. For example, highly addictive narcotics are prescribed in certain situations. No rational, humane person objects to this, especially to relieve pain in patients who are mortally ill. By the same token, there is no legitimate reason to object to the medical use of marijuana. If marijuana helps doctors make life more bearable for people who are suffering, it would be unreasonable and cruel to deny physicians -- and their patients -- this tool. http://www.jsonline.com/news/editorials/0322mar.asp
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